Mediation and Administrative Dispute Resolution in Pakistan: An Analysis of Legal Frameworks and Reformative Possibilities

Abstract

The situation before the superior and subordinate courts of Pakistan is very peculiar; there are more than two million pending cases, many of which concern administrative disputes with the government agencies, revenue departments, public service commissions and regulators. These conflicts involve differences of opinion on taxes, land revenue, promotion and seniority of civil servants, enforcing regulations, and a host of citizens-state interactions that become enmeshed in a colonial style dispute resolution system. The present adjudicatory system is heavily clogged with precedent-based procedures, poorly staffed, and complacent in its procedures, resulting in delayed justice for aggrieved persons. The paper critically examines mediation as an alternative and constitutionally sound way of managing administrative disputes in the Pakistani legal system. This study explores the status quo of ADR mechanism in administrative disputes in Pakistan, primary legal sources, judicial rulings, empirical findings of revenue courts and civil courts, and comparative experiences of other jurisdictions including United Kingdom, South Africa, Bangladesh and U.S.A. It assigns a constitutional, statutory and institutional framework to build mediation as an independent, but connected, mechanism of alternative dispute resolution to administrative justice. The analysis reveals that Pakistan's traditional dispute resolution systems, such as Jirga and Panchayat, have a proven track record of resolving disputes through informal, consensual processes, though a formal institutionalizing of structured mediation in formal adjudicative processes is nascent, weak and incomplete. Lastly, the paper sets out a comprehensive reform agenda, such as harmonization of laws, institutional capacity building, special training courses for administrative mediators and the establishment of administrative mediation centers under judicial supervision, which are required by the Constitution and desirable to achieve the 'Foundational promise of access to justice.

Keywords: Administrative Disputes, Mediation, Access to Justice, Civil Service, Legal Reform